Breakfast Links - July 31, 2023

(image via Houston Dash)

Good morning, everybody! Hope y’all had a wonderful weekend. Here are your breakfast links to kickoff this Monday morning.

Houston

Houston Dynamo 2 got the weekend started playing away to Real Monarchs on Friday night. This was a wildly open and entertaining game ending in a 5-3 scoreline in favor of Houston. Papa Ndoye scored a hat trick in this game with Isaiah Reid getting a brace. It was great to see the team get another 3 points and they now sit in 6th place, occupying a playoff spot.

While the Dash game this weekend was meaningless in terms of qualifying out of the group of the Challenge Cup, getting a win in this game was huge for the moral of the team going forward. The Dash managed to hold on to a hard fought 1-0 win against Racing Louisville. The lone goal was scored by Ebony Salmon midway through the first half. A massive seven saves from Jane Campbell allowed the team to hold on to the 1-0 win. Massive for this struggling team!

The Dynamo did not play this weekend but managed to qualify for the knockout stages of Leagues Cup. Orlando took care of business and beat Santos Laguna 3-2 in a wild game. The Dynamo will now host Pachuca on Wednesday night. Let’s pack the stadium and back the boys in what should be an exciting game!

Leagues Cup

The group stage of Leagues Cup is coming to a close with some very exciting matches taking place this weekend. Saturday saw Cruz Azul draw 1-1 against Atlanta United. This game was essentially a knockout game, with the winner qualifying with Miami for the knockouts. Cruz Azul managed to win the game in the penalty shootout 5-4. Charlotte FC knocked out Necaxa and qualified for the knockouts after beating them 4-1.

Sunday night, we saw both Tijuana and Toronto eliminated after losing their games 1-0. The LA Galaxy where embarrassed after blowing a 1-0 lead late to Vancouver to lose 2-1. This loss also knocks them out of the tournament. Two of the biggest clubs in the competition, Seattle and Monterrey, played a massive game where Seattle needed to win by three goals to advance. Early in the game it looked like that might happen with Seattle going up 2-0 just six minutes in. Monterrey then went and scored four unanswered goals to end Seattle’s hopes of winning another title over Mexican competition.

Women’s World Cup

Friday had round two of the Group D matches. England played against Denmark for the first game on the day with England dominating the possession. Lauren James scored the opening goal just six minutes into the game and England controlled the game for the rest of the time, winning 1-0. Denmark had a few chances, but not enough to put the ball past Mary Earps in net. China and Haiti played next with China winning 1-0 off a Shuang Wang penalty. Was a mostly even game with the shots going 8-7 in favor of China. England and Denmark sit in the top two with one game to go.

Saturday continued Group F with France playing Brazil and Panama playing Jamaica. France and Brazil, being two of the favorites, set this game up for an intense match. Eugenie Le Sommer scored early in the game to put France up 1-0 until Brazil hit back through Debinha. Center back Wendie Renard scored the winner for France in the 83rd minute to give France the massive win. Jamaica beat Panama 1-0 with captain Allyson Swaby getting the lone goal for Jamaica. France and Jamaica now sit in the top two with one game to go.

On Sunday, two Group A matches took place with Norway playing the Philippines and Switzerland playing New Zealand. Norway had the joint biggest win of the tournament beating the Philippines 6-0. Striker Sophie Haug scored a hat trick to put her up there with the top scorers of the tournament. Switzerland then played New Zealand with each team needing a result to qualify from the group. Switzerland goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann made five saves to earn the 0-0 draw for Switzerland. These results end the group with Switzerland and Norway advancing.

This morning, Canada were dumped out of the tournament, losing 4-0 to host Australia. The reigning Olympic champions are out of the tournament in the group stage. Nichelle Prince, Sophie Schmidt, and Allysha Chapman will return to Houston after Canada’s loss. Their Dash teammate Michelle Alozie is moving onto the Round of 16 after Nigeria drew 0-0 with Ireland to finish second in Group B.